Strangers on a Train
by xAmuIkuto
Summary: She had never met the man, yet there was something about his presence and playful teasing that made her feel unsure of herself.


**I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of its characters!**

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**Strangers on a Train**

She hadn't expected the train to be full of passengers travelling to and from places for the holidays. Upon arriving at the train station, the rush of pedestrians forcing themselves into the train was surely a Christmas sight. Making sure to place her valuables and loose change into her purse to avoid pickpockets, and then tightly clutching her bag, she pushed past the crowds of people to successfully board the train.

Looking past the herd on the train, her eyes lit up as she saw an empty seat up ahead. Quickly scurrying to the seat, despite the occasionally "oops," "excuse me," and trips, she gleefully sat down, placing her bag in her lap. Sighing in relief, the pinkette looked around for any familiar faces, and to her disappointment saw none.

Before closing her eyes, a plastic card popping out of the pocket of her bag caught her eye. Picking it up, she looked at the name-card that read "Hinamori Amu. Age: 22. Sex: Female. Placement: Secretary to CEO." Placing the card back into the bag, she faintly smiled. _I almost forgot my own job!_ But that wasn't new. She was always forgetting things here and there. She almost forgot that today, after visiting her family, she was to go to her old school, Seiyo Academy, because some of her old, close friends were reuniting for the holidays.

"The Guardians," she whispered under her breath. The label itself made her giggle to herself, gaining confused looks from the other passengers. She remembered the two blondes, the two younger ones – the brunette and the green-haired one – the older brunette, and the purple-haired one. She even remembered the older blonde. All her friends to gather in one place; the thought itself made Amu smile.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Amu looked up to meet sharp, navy eyes hidden behind clear-cut glasses with thin, silver frames. For a moment she froze, as if she was trying to recollect something, before mumbling, "No." Part of her, however, wanted to roll her eyes at his tone – she could practically hear a grin in his voice! – especially since there was no item of hers, or any item at all, on the seat to her right. He could've sat down without even asking her!

As he sat down beside her, she moved closer to the opposite edge. Something about him made her feel uneasy. He noticed this and quirked an eyebrow up, a small smirk playing on his lips.

The man had a lean but strong figure which was complimented by his sharp features. His hair was slightly longer than ear-length and was a deep, royal navy color, which complimented his alluring eyes that had some sort of charm that made others get lost in them. The man with blue hair had high cheek bones that other men killed for and a dashing smile. But the smile, though it appeared slightly childish, had a sort of an amatory charm to it that was seen with the mischievous glint in his eyes.

The man, who looked around the age of 27, took out his glasses' case from his suit's pocket, removed his glasses from his face, placed it in the case, and tucked the case safely back into his pocket. He rested his elbow on the arm rest of his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out a sharp sigh. Amu, noticing his agitated behavior, carefully and cautiously peered through the corner of her eye to see his bangs fallen over his eyes. That just set her on the edge even more. And to her surprise, she saw him cunningly stare right back at her through his hair. Immediately, she looked away, feeling heat rise to her cheeks from the embarrassment she felt from being caught staring, even more so at a stranger!

"Staring's impolite, y'know," he said in a smooth voice. He straightened himself out before turning his body to lean back on the arm rest opposite from hers, prop his elbow on it, and lean his jaw onto his hand, and stare at the uncomfortable girl who felt his gaze.

"Says the one who is doing it," she muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me? Speak up a little louder. Mumbling is a bad habit. You should fix it," came his playful teasing.

Amu mustered up her courage before facing the man with bold eyes and pursed lips. He raised an eyebrow at her before she continued. "Do we know each other? If we do not, can you please stop staring at me and refrain from talking to me? Thank you." Then she faced front again without a single word but felt proud.

For a second, the man's smirk fell but continued with, "I _can_ stop, but I don't want to. It's rather fun." He added, "The name's Tsukiyomi Ikuto. Call me Ikuto."

"Mr. Tsukiyomi," she sharply addressed him, "do what you want but please do not involve me. Thank you."

"That sucks the fun out of everything," he muttered, facing front again.

"Excuse me? What was that? Speak up a little louder. Mumbling is a bad habit. You should fix it," she chimed with her own smirk.

"Clever," he commented, a grin evident in his voice. "Seems like you're from Easter," he said, changing the topic.

"…Yes," Amu slowly answered. "How did you know?"

"Your nametag, of course."

"O-oh," she softly said. "And you?" she reluctantly replied. She really did want to cut off all ties with this man but her continued to pester.

"CEO of that company," came his blunt response. He waited for a reaction from her but received nothing to his dismay. "Where are you heading to?"

"My former school. My friends and I are meeting up for a Christmas reunion."

Ikuto's eyes flickered with mischief. "That's a surprise. I'm heading to Seiyo, too." Immediately, Ikuto became stiff.

Amu slowly turned to face him and began saying, "I never said I was going to Seiyo."

"Lucky guess. This train is heading to Osaka, and that small town holds Seiyo as its only elementary school," he quickly answered before recomposing himself.

"Ah, alright then," Amu responded but remained slightly cautious to this man named Ikuto. "Why are you heading there?"

"My girlfriend asked me to take her to a reunion with her friends, that's all."

"That's strange. I'm supposed to meet up with my friends there for a reunion."

"I know. You said that already."

Ignoring his rude comment, Amu asked, "Who are you taking?"

He waved his hand to dismiss the question. "It's not important. What's important is the fact that the train should be arriving shortly to Osaka. In another ten minutes or so." He paused before hesitantly asking, "Would you like a ride there?"

She immediately turned down the offer. She was not going to ride in a car with an older man who was a stranger, despite the fact that they'd be riding in a taxi. Yet, something felt so familiar about him.

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug.

"Are you sure we haven't met before?" she slowly asked.

"Do you remember us meeting ever before?" He asked the question a bit too quickly and there was something in his voice that Amu couldn't quite pick up, but it was definitely there.

"No," she answered.

"Then no. We have not met before." His voice was hard and he looked straight ahead, his jaw line tight.

"I'm sorry but did I say something to make you mad?" she asked, wary of his response.

"No."

"Alright then," she muttered.

Before the two of them knew it, the train came to a halt and Ikuto was the first to get off between the two of them without a word. Amu stared after his figure as it disappeared within the crowd of people.

Ikuto, who was walking fast through the snow that hit his face and the people bumping into him, called a cab. Sitting inside it, he snatched his cell phone out from his pocket, dropping his glasses' case in the process. Dialing a number, he quickly picked up the case, told the driver where to go, and heard a voice from the other side.

"She doesn't remember! You don't understand how it feels to spend every day with the girl you love who doesn't even know who you are! She didn't even know I was her boss! She didn't know who she worked for!" he yelled into the phone, glaring at the taxi driver who was staring at him through the mirror.

_"It takes time, Ikuto. The doctor said even though this is a small case of amnesia, she won't remember for another week or so. She hit her head pretty hard on that ski trip. For God's sake, it was a tree trunk! She was out for a couple of days and then woke up to unfamiliar faces, despite all of us being there," _the man on the other line answered. His voice was soothing, yet assertive, and held a pained tone.

"The doctor also said that it would only take a couple of weeks for her to recover from this. It's been more than a couple of weeks! It's almost been a month! She trusts you the most right now, Tadase, and I need you to tell her who I am. I can't stand it any longer," Ikuto shouted, his voice cracking towards the end of his sentence.

_"No one can stand it Ikuto. Just…just bear with it a little longer. She'll be here at the party."_

Ikuto snorted. "She didn't even know I was taking her. How is it that she remembers all of you and not me?"

_"It's not like you're always around, you know,"_ Tadase's voice was soft and cautious. _"Whenever you're on a business trip, she stays alone at the apartment. And that's usually for a couple of weeks."_ Ikuto was about to yell back into the phone but held his tongue. Tadase was right. "_She's staying at Utau's right now and Utau had to hide some of your pictures. The doctor said that showing too much to her at once can be harmful to her process of getting better."_

"I'm there. Open the door." Ikuto hung up the phone and paid the taxi driver before stepping out of the car and into the cold air with snow falling onto his hair and eyes. Walking to the entrance of the Royal Garden, he met the blonde and greeted him before entering.

Inside, he looked around, surprised to see Amu already sitting there. He took a seat beside his sister, Utau, who was sitting with her own husband, Souma Kukai, at the table opposite to Amu's.

Amu, on the other hand, was busy looking for her phone in her purse to call up her parents and tell her that she arrived safely. However, she stopped rummaging through her bag when Amu saw her employee nametag. She looked up and met Ikuto's stare.

She had never taken out her employee nametag from her purse when Ikuto arrived or any time after his arrival.

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**I know its been a long time. Too long. I know this is no consolation for my absence but I hope you all enjoy this little one shot (Im sorta dissapointment at myself because of the ending since its alluding to her remembering who he is but whatevs)! Expect an update for Bloody Rose...c:?**

**Hope you enjoyed and here's the whole thing I posted on Facebook for why I decided to write again and whatnot. Was just too lazy to write another one? Lets go with that xD; :**

**"Just a week ago, a Shugo Chara! song started playing on iTunes and I remembered this story and wrote only a few lines, at most a paragraph, before closing it and saying I'd return to it later. Never happened. Now, two hours ago, I was playing with the XBox when suddenly the Crunchyroll app came and I downloaded it and browsed through the sample Anime episodes to watch (don't have premium :c) and S...hugo Chara! Episode 1 happened to be the fourth on the list. Played it, watched it, was Kukai-smiling through the whole thing, cried. I couldn't believe that I was watching Shugo Chara! again after two years. Then I remembered Bloody Rose and the crucial cliffhanger I left off on and how most of you, if not all, are furious at and upset with me. I started to work on the chapter again (I can honestly and proudly say that I am 2/4 done) but then a song (Because It's Christmas from the Jelly Christmas 2012 Heart Project) played on my iTunes and a oneshot popped up in my head. I'm in the process of writing it and through all of you should just know what's been happening. I want to see if I still have my "writing abilities" and also to just start again, anew. I know this is no consolation because I have promised that I would not be one of those authors that never update and I broke that promise and I am truly sorry and hope you all can forgive me. On a happier note, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas as well as enjoyed the other holidays you celebrate! Also, Bloody Rose is not dead, as well as the other two stories to come. I can happily and whole-heartedly promise that."**


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